In this aerial image made from a video provided by WSB-TV, a large fire that caused an overpass on Interstate 85 to collapse burns in Atlanta, Thursday, March 30, 2017. Witnesses say troopers were telling cars to turn around on the bridge because they were concerned about its integrity. Minutes later, the bridge collapsed. (WSB-TV via AP)

On March 30, the two came together with catastrophic results. Police say a 39-year-old homeless man, Basil Eleby, set fire to an upholstered chair, which then ignited the coiled plastic conduit stacked in rows under I-85 near Piedmont Road.

The resulting fire was so large and intense that it chewed through the concrete bridge and its steel beams, eventually causing a large section of the interstate to come crashing down.

Now, Atlantans are grappling with a two-month traffic nightmare while the interstate is repaired. The price tag will easily reach tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. The fiasco has many asking who is to blame.

Inherent in that question is another: Was this fire something that could have been prevented, or was it a freak occurrence?

In a handful of press conferences, state transportation officials acknowledged that the agency placed the materials there, but contended that no one could have foreseen the danger. They also said storing materials under bridges is common around the country.

“I don’t think anyone would have ever thought this kind of thing would happen,” said Russell McMurry, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation.

This booking photo provided by the Fulton County Jail shows Basil Newman Eleby. Eleby, suspected of starting a raging fire that collapsed a portion of Interstate 85 a few miles north of downtown Atlanta has a court appearance scheduled. Eleby is charged with arson. (Fulton County Jail via AP)

Photo: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Police have arrested Eleby, a hapless street dweller who supported himself through odd jobs for local shops. He worked for dollars, sweeping a floor here, washing a few cars there. He also had a rap sheet 19 arrests long and steeped in illicit drugs.

Eleby is charged with arson and criminal damage to property. Late Friday, authorities indicted him and said he had consumed drugs under the bridge before allegedly setting the fire.

Georgia transportation officials are acting like the agency did nothing wrong in regard to the raging fire that brought down the I-85 bridge, that it was just some freak occurrence. (Video by Hyosub Shin/AJC; edit by Armani Martin/AJC)

Skateboard bowl shows underpass unsecured

In the wake of the fire, GDOT assured the public that the site - which they owned along with the material - was secured with a chainlink fence and a gate.

But an AJC review of pictures of the site before the collapse as well as a walk through of it afterward found it was hardly secure.

Photos show the gate bent enough to render the attached padlock all but useless. The fence could be easily climbed.

McMurry, the GDOT commissioner, acknowledged the fence was really there to keep people from stealing the conduit rather than to keep people out of the area.

The backside of the underpass, meanwhile, was completely unsecured, the AJC found.

Not far away from the site of the fire, a surreal sight raises even more questions about security under the bridge — a concrete skateboard bowl, about 30 yards long with high walls, humps and dips.

April 6, 2017 Atlanta - A skate board park was being built under I-85 near the sections that were damaged by a fire. Basil Eleby, a homeless man, has been charged with starting the fire that brought down I-85. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Photo: Hyosub Shin/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Nearby were the unmistakable signs of homeless encampment: plastic coolers, shopping carts, an abundance of plastic bottles, stray shoes and sneakers, the skeletal remains of a bicycle.

Gerald Griggs, an attorney with the NAACP, said GDOT has a legal responsibility to keep the public safe from “hazardous” materials. The skateboard bowl, he said, proves GDOT “knew or should have known people were there and it was a potential hazard.”

“When you house a hazardous material in an open and obvious manner, you owe a duty to protect the public,” Griggs said. “Simply saying the material is not hazardous is not protecting the public.”

But some transportation officials say the bridge fire was such an isolated incident that it was impossible to anticipate.

Pennsylvania bars the storage of flammable, explosive and other dangerous materials. PennDOT spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick said that includes high-density polyethylene, which is the material that caught fire under I-85.

Russell McMurry, GDOT commissioner, is defending the state’s decision to place materials under the I-85 bridge but said the practice is being reviewed.

So, just how common is it to store material under Georgia’s bridges? And what’s under there?

“If we knew then what we know now, we wouldn’t have the material stored in the fashion it was stored,” he said.

Conduit left over from aborted contract

The high-density polyethylene and fiberglass conduit that would go on to ignite was left over from an aborted 2007 contract to install cameras, ramp meters and other electronic traffic devices on Ga. 400, between I-85 and I-285.

McMurry said the state planned to use it in the future to save taxpayers money. GDOT initially stored the conduit at a site at Sidney Marcus Boulevard and Buford Highway. It moved the material under I-85 near Piedmont Road sometime in 2011.

This image from Google Maps Street View shows the spools of high-density polyethylene conduit in September 2014, stored under the portion of I-85 that collapsed. The conduit burned hot enough to collapse the bridge.

Over time, he let Eleby use the shop refrigerator and bathroom. Then he let him sleep in a broken-down Mercedes in the back. Eleby threw some ratty blankets in the back seat. The driver’s seat held his toiletries - a tube of toothpaste, a toothbrush.

He was harmless, but sometimes showed flashes of anger, said several shop owners. He didn’t say much, and he seemed a little absent-minded. They didn’t know what he did at night, and they didn’t ask. He seemed sober when they saw him.

Bill Turner, who used to repair cars in the neighborhood, tried to help Eleby get in the Army through a recruiter friend. But after one conversation with Eleby, the recruiter said no way.

“I know people gave him bicycles and he sold them,” Turner recalled. “I gave him an iPod. He said he lost it.”

Annette Eleby: `I had to kick him out’

Eleby was born at Grady Memorial Hospital, his mother, Annette Eleby, told the AJC. Her family was poor, and lived in housing projects in Atlanta. Basil had a sister and four brothers. The boys fought all the time. By the time Basil was in his late twenties, he was taking drugs, she said.

His rap sheet indicated Elbey not only had a temper, but could be violent. There were charges of battery and assault. He also was charged with trafficking and possessing cocaine, but never spent more than a few months in jail. Then he was back on the street, riding his bicycle, sleeping in the Mercedes.

At a nearby substance abuse counseling center called the Triangle Club, Eleby was often seen grabbing a cup of coffee and occasionally attending noontime meetings, where he said little.

“He was a creepy guy,” said Michael Kelly, 56, who attends meetings there. “I never involved myself with him.”

This corner is part of Buckhead, but it’s not the upscale condos, expensive shops and towering skyscrapers that most associate with that section of Atlanta. Down the block is a place where men watch nude girls dance and porno videos in booths. Beyond that is the I-85 overpass.

April 6, 2017 Atlanta - The remnants of homeless people litter the ground under I-85, near the sections that were damaged by a fire. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Photo: Hyosub Shin/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The most damaging story about Eleby comes from the homeless woman who ties him to the fire. Sophia Brauer told Channel 2 Action News that she saw a sofa on fire after Eleby placed it on a shopping cart and then reach underneath.

Shortly thereafter, as black smoke mushroomed skyward, she said she ran into Eleby.

“He looked at me,” she told the Channel 2 reporter. “He gave this evil smile and said, ‘Ha, ha, ha. I did that.’”

A flurry of action and review is occurring here and elsewhere in the country, as officials act to prevent another such conflagration.

McMurry has asked the state insurance commissioner and the state fire marshal to review GDOT’s practices for storing construction material. He said he is unaware of any similar material stored under other Georgia bridges.

Transportation officials in numerous states — including Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, South Carolina and Tennessee — have begun inspecting their own bridges to determine whether flammable material is stored beneath them.

There are no federal regulations related to storing material under highway bridges, according to a spokesman from the Federal Highway Administration. U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson thinks that’s a problem. The Lithonia Democrat, who sits on the House’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he would like to see new regulation address the issue, but that is unlikely in Washington’s current political climate.

Atlanta motorists had to shift their travel to I-75 after the fire at an I-85 overpass. JOHN SPINK /JSPINK@AJC.COM

Photo: JOHN SPINK / AJC/JOHN SPINK / AJC

“It is incumbent upon the federal government to protect its investments around the country, including its interstate highways and bridges,” Johnson said. “So there should be uniformity in practices and policies in this realm.”

Dave Wilkinson, president of the Atlanta Police Foundation, said repeat offenders such as Eleby are law enforcement’s biggest challenge. “It does not surprise me at all that that individual was a repeat offender,” he said.

But the criminal justice system can only do so much, said Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter.

“You can arrest people who break the law. You can try and develop an appropriate punishment for that crime,” Porter said. “But it’s really too blunt an instrument to all of a sudden change someone’s life.”

State Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, is heading up a new legislative study on homelessness.

Though she said Eleby is responsible for his actions, Unterman sees the I-85 incident as the tragic result of the state’s failure to care for its homeless residents.

Neighborhood businesses losing customers

For now, the mood at the corner of Piedmont and Lakeshore is one of shock and sadness.

Gizachew, who owns the auto-repair shop where Eleby slept in a car, can’t believe he is charged with such a serious crime.

Bill Turner, who has moved his business from the neighborhood to Decatur, recalled with gallows humor something he said upon hearing about the fire, but before he knew about Eleby’s alleged involvement.

Under the bridge, there were no homeless in the encampment, at least on Thursday afternoon. And nobody was zooming around that concrete skateboard bowl.

Nonetheless, GDOT officials say they will start removing the structure soon, according to their written statement to the AJC. The removal, they added, “is part of our commitment to address illegal trespassing on state property and the resulting implications.”

Staff writer Rhonda Cook contributed to this report.

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